Defunct Genes For All

Defunct genes for all, according to a report in Nature, vol. 467, p 1061, 28 October 2010, DOI: doi:10.1038/nature09534. An international team of scientists has begun an enormous study of the variation within the human genome entitled the “1000 Genomes Project”. A pilot study has now been completed, involving partial analysis of the genomes of 876 individuals. The study included two detailed analyses of father-mother-child trios. From these results the team estimated “the rate of de novo germline base substitution mutations to be approximately 10(-8) per base pair per generation.” The team also concluded: “On average, each person is found to carry approximately 250 to 300 loss-of-function variants in annotated genes and 50 to 100 variants previously implicated in inherited disorders.”

Editorial Comment: This study may help us understand and perhaps treat some genetic diseases, and is therefore a useful thing to do. However, since there was no mention of finding mutations that produced gain of function, such findings are exactly what you would expect from the Bible’s history of the human race, which tells us that God made everything very good, but after man rebelled against his Creator the human race (and all the world) has been degenerating and still is. Adam and Eve had the best genomes ever made. From then on the only changes have been degenerative loss of function or, at best, neutral variations. As this study shows, we are all carrying the evidence of this degeneration in our genes. We predict that when the “1000 Genomes Project” is completed it will confirm the Bible’s teaching that the human race is going downhill, devolving and not evolving. The only way to escape from this degeneration is to get a new body in the New Heaven and Earth which Christ the Creator and Saviour promises for all those who put their faith in Him. (Ref. genetics, devolution, inheritance, prediction)